Burt Ballanfant leaves the METRO Board

Burt Ballanfant ca. 2007

After many years of service with dignity and sage wisdom, Burt Ballanfant's eight-year term on the METRO Board has come to an end, this Thursday's Regular Board Meeting being his last.  Burt's departure falls on the heels of that of Judge Dwight Jefferson, who is running for Houston City Controller.

The direct link to Mayor Ballanfant's photo and bio is at http://www.ridemetro.org/AboutUs/Board/BBallanfant.aspx but as his page will soon be removed from METRO's website, I've included his biographical information at the bottom of this post along with his photo from that page at the top.

As a citizen mass-transit advocate, I found Board Member Ballanfant to be very pleasant to deal with and be around.  He was always genuine, genteel, and on-point with everything he did.  He always asked the right questions, and I believe he like all our Board members has a real desire to make not just his West University Place, but the whole of Greater Houston-Galveston a better place.

I also appreciated his presence as a private citizen and arts fan at Houston Chamber Choir concerts, and hope he will continue to be such.  Godspeed, Burt, and thank you for everything.

+ + +

Burt Ballanfant was appointed to the METRO Board by the 14 Multi-Cities in the METRO service area in February 2007.

Mr. Ballanfant is a fifth generation Houstonian who graduated from Lamar High School and the University of Texas and University of Texas Law School. After law school, he joined the United States Attorney’s Office in Houston where he was twice named an outstanding Assistant United States Attorney. He has been an attorney for Shell Oil Company since 1980.

He previously served on the METRO Citizen Advisory Board and has been a 30-year mass transit user in Houston. He served six years on the West University City Council, the last four as Mayor. During that time, he has also served as President of the Harris County Council of Mayors and Councils.

Among other civic activities, he was a member of the Battleship Texas Commission and President of Concerned Citizens for Washington Cemetery Care while that historic cemetery was merged with Glenwood Cemetery. He is married to Sarah Cobb Ballanfant and has three children; Andrea, Ben and Amy.